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Sean

DIY - Custom Fit Adaptors for In/On Ear Phones - Updated!

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IPB Image

IPB Image

 

ACS custom sleeve made custom mould,

 

custom mold to DIY custom sleeve,

 

not promising on the 1st attempt

 

I believe it will work, but I just need to make a better mould, so to create a better DIY custom sleeve

 

 

 

after much handling of the silicon, no side effect on skin and find it pretty to handle

 

I place it to my ears

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IPB Image

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Edited by alamakazam

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Well done bro!! Great thing about this is that if you don't like it, throw it away!

Just keep trying until you get what you want. It may take a few tries but don't give up. It takes a bit of practice.

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I have been wanting to create my own custom shells for sometime now using material that is available to us here in Singapore. My aim is to create a shell for my other lower end IEMs like the Shure E2C and Ety ER 6i. I also would like to make my own custom shells for the my bluetooth headsets.

 

I've posted my initial experiments here before with Epoxy Putty and then with Silicone Putty.

 

Having recently reshelled my Shure SE530 with Unique Melody (via Stereo Electronics), I attempted here to create a mold and then cast it with epoxy.

 

Molding material: EasyMold Silicone Rubber

Casting material: EasyCast Clear Casting Epoxy.

 

Both are available at ArtFriend Bras Basah.

 

I won't go through the prep of these materials as they are well described on the manal and also on Youtube. (just do a search). But you will need measuring cups, syringe, rubbing alcohol and wax paper.

 

Molding

I prepared 2 plastic containers. Doesn't matter what type as long as not made of rubber or silicone. The material is food safe so you can use tupperware as well.

 

I blocked out the holes with sticky tape - something I regretted doing. You should try using tape with a smoother surface like electric tape. You will see why in the other pics.

 

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I stuck the base of the shells with bluetack at the bottom of the container and then poured the mixture over it. While pouring, to avoid air bubbles, ensure you pour it from 30cm height and let it stream to the sides of the object so that nothing gets left out along the way.

 

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Left it alone for 24 hours.

 

Demolding

Simple matter of easing out the original shells. It was a very clean process. Nothing was left stuck to the original piece.

You can see in the pic below I have marked a spot with X. That is where the surface was unsmooth due to the sticky tape I put on to protect the holes of the original piece.

 

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Red spot painted for my own reference.. this is the right side.

 

This mold can be re used many times.

 

Casting

Mixed up EasyCast clear casting epoxy, following the instructions carefully. I suggest if you are doing this to also look up how people are doing it on youtube. Used a syringe to slowly inject the casting material into the mold. Very important to be slow to avoid excessive air bubbles. I didn't give the mixture enough time to degas and hence you will see quite a few air bubbles trapped in the pics later. This must be left alone for 24 hours or more. It has to be given enough time to harden or it will be ruined when you remove it from the mold.

 

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You can buy the mixing cups from ArtFriend and the syringe from any pharmacy like Guardian. Wax paper is bought from any supermarket. Go to the section where they sell aluminium foil and clingfilm. If you want to reuse the mixing cups and syringe, buy some rubbing alcohol from the pharmacist to clean the material away.

 

THE RESULT!!

 

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Seeing this after experimenting and waiting for so long, it truly was a thing of beauty for me. Had to use a rotary tool or file to remove excess bits here and there. When I put it into my ears, it felt excatly the same as the originals. And the isolation levels and comfort were excellent. They were the perfect - earplugs - at this stage.

 

Drilling

This is the most challenging part which I have not got right yet.

 

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Got the drillbit from Daiso. It attaches to an electric screwdriver and allowed me to have greate control as the drilling went on. I started with a 2mm and then graduated slowly to 4mm. The trickest part is that I had to drill from both ends since there was a curve. And that created a sharp angle inside the shell. Once this was done, I attached my Shure E2C to the shell with bluetack and was not very happy with the sound. Too soft because it was too far away and the sound had to travel further. I had to put the volume quite high to get any decent sound. But it was damn comfortable.

 

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Had to be careful during the drilling as I didn't want to make any holes elsewhere. My next attempt will be to drill further into the shell and make a straight canal instead to shorten the distance that the sound has to travel.

 

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES...

 

 

 

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OK.. update

 

I spent some time in the afternoon with a drill and rotary tool to enlarge the holes at the back of the shells I made

 

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For those canal based phones like Shure E2C and Ety ER6i, I have yet to achieve satisfactory results. I will need to think a little further about channeling the sound correctly.

 

BUT

 

I had great success with those traditional earbuds ie the standard ones that we get with iPods

 

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The sound was excellent with great, balanced delivery of highs and lows. And the added comfort and isolation just brings it to a whole new level. I may need to find a more elegant method of securing it to the shells. As you can see in the pic above, I'm only using bluetack. But that can be solved later.

 

I then attached one of the shells to my Jawbone Icon.

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I've created the most comfortable bluetooth headset ever! I even tried streaming music (via the Jawbone's A2DP ability) from my iPhone. The music came through great with the right amount of volume. Can't expect much in terms of quality from a bluetooth headset.

 

The next nut to crack will be to get my IEMs working with this!!

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Here's a tip for working with casting epoxy: hair-dryer.

 

The heat causes the air in the bubbles to expand and they will rise to the surface and pop. My buddy and I used to use lighters to achieve the same effect (but for flat cast items).

For something like that, use a hair dryer instead.

 

 

On the note of the mould, go get mould release wax (should be available from art friends too). Then the epoxy won't stick to the mould and you won't need to clean residues off with spirit.

Edited by Firefox

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Here's a tip for working with casting epoxy: hair-dryer.

 

The heat causes the air in the bubbles to expand and they will rise to the surface and pop. My buddy and I used to use lighters to achieve the same effect (but for flat cast items).

For something like that, use a hair dryer instead.

On the note of the mould, go get mould release wax (should be available from art friends too). Then the epoxy won't stick to the mould and you won't need to clean residues off with spirit.

 

Thanks for the hairdyer tip. Yeah I know about mold release but wasn't able to get it at art friend. Maybe they ran out. But I checked on youtube that it was an optional item so I just went ahead without that. It came off very very cleanly and I'm sure I can use the mold I made many many times.

 

Seriously, my bluetooth headset is very comfortable now. Always felt as it is was falling off before. Now it sits in my ear canal very comfortably and securely.

 

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The new Jawbone Icon doesn't need contact so it works great. The older one, yes. And I have it too. But I stuck silicone putty to 'extend' the reach of the sensor. Not very nice looking but functional.

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